# Big Bang Theory 10/6--The Wiggly Finger Catalyst **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-theory-10-6-the-wiggly-finger-catalyst/598779 "2011-10-06T13:23:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-theory-10-6-the-wiggly-finger-catalyst/598779/41 "2011-10-09T07:29:28Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Great line but lousy episode. > > Howard playing “sign language interpreter” just made no sense and from they way they were acting you would’ve though the girl was blind as well. Even if I could buy that the woman couldn’t read lips in a one-on-one close conversation they were acting like she couldn’t see them mugging it up at each other. OTOH, the Deaf people I know interpreted that as how doofy hearing people can be about deaf people. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-theory-10-6-the-wiggly-finger-catalyst/598779/42 "2011-10-09T09:01:03Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > The dice told him to. > > Am I the only one who noticed that Sheldon’s dice were a d6 and a d12? _Sigh_ It seems like every D&D reference in popular media is “so close, and yet so far” in terms of accuracy. It really should have been a pair of d10s, three d6s (as mentioned above), or a single d20. Did you base that on what the looked like? He rolled a 14 and a 3(?) to get succotash, so one must have been a d20. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-theory-10-6-the-wiggly-finger-catalyst/598779/43 "2011-10-09T12:48:53Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The question is how did Raj learn it so fast: sign language is like learning any other language in the amount of time it takes to master. Well, they are geniuses. They played with that concept in one episode, if I remember, by having Sheldon learn a language in under a day (from a book). My memory is hazy, though. Yeah, it’s not realistic - but what about the show is? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-theory-10-6-the-wiggly-finger-catalyst/598779/44 "2011-10-09T14:03:10Z")
Wasn’t there a mention that Raj and Emily had been seeing each other for at least a month? He wasn’t experiencing total immersion as far as learning ASL was concerned, but he certainly had a lot of motivation to learn as much as possible as fast as he could. I’d agree that a lot of Raj’s interactions with women tend to be on the creepy side, but the scene where he defies his parents and tells Emily that the money didn’t matter because they had love was sweet. That’s a side that I’d like to see more of. I’m torn about having him overcome his psychosis about speaking to non-related women. On the one hand, it is getting a little old. On the other hand, losing Howard’s reaction to Raj’s whispers would be sad. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-theory-10-6-the-wiggly-finger-catalyst/598779/45 "2011-10-09T14:06:14Z")
I was really hoping she was just pretending to be deaf so he could talk to her, in future episodes she’d admit she could hear him the entire time and it would get him over his shyness because he had already communicated with her, all set up by Penny. But no, we got another hot girl gold digs a nerdy guy episode…what is this like the 4th one? - And D&D is not a paragraph selecting chose-your-own-adventure game, if they’re going to nerd reference they need to get it right. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-theory-10-6-the-wiggly-finger-catalyst/598779/46 "2011-10-09T14:16:08Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I’m torn about having him overcome his psychosis about speaking to non-related women. On the one hand, it is getting a little old. On the other hand, losing Howard’s reaction to Raj’s whispers would be sad. OTOOH if they did have him start talking to girls I think a lot of people would be screaming sell out and angry that they didn’t manage to hold on to such a long running gag until the end. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-theory-10-6-the-wiggly-finger-catalyst/598779/47 "2011-10-09T14:23:37Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I was really hoping she was just pretending to be deaf so he could talk to her, in future episodes she’d admit she could hear him the entire time and it would get him over his shyness because he had already communicated with her, all set up by Penny. [They did this once](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt5pw3EwKLY#t=2m45s). On the episode on the train he was talking to a girl (Summer Glau) for a while only to realize his beverage of choice was an NA beer. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-theory-10-6-the-wiggly-finger-catalyst/598779/48 "2011-10-09T16:58:01Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > OTOOH if they did have him start talking to girls I think a lot of people would be screaming sell out and angry that they didn’t manage to hold on to such a long running gag until the end. On the gripping hand they could just have him discover that he can talk to Penny, but not other women. That way Penny gets some whisper-reactions. Sheldon has taught himself both Mandarin and Finnish from books. He is the master of [neither](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qne4DeFvu2M). ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-theory-10-6-the-wiggly-finger-catalyst/598779/49 "2011-10-11T05:13:10Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Out-of-character moment: Sheldon would _never_ divulge what somebody had him notarize. It would be a violation of confidence and his notary’s pledge, and it’s just not Sheldon. But Sheldon has stated that he can’t keep a secret. And is there an expectation of confidence from a Notary? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bang-theory-10-6-the-wiggly-finger-catalyst/598779.md?page=2)